


The Sound of Silence

by heyitsnxel



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Deaf Character, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitsnxel/pseuds/heyitsnxel
Summary: The last thing Vanya Hargreeves heard before she hit the stage floor was the sound of a gun.Now it was the only thing she could hear.





	1. Chapter 1

 

_**Bang.** _

  
  


The gunshot resounded through the theatre, echoing off the walls and through the air, the noise reverbing through Vanya’s body like a pinball machine - hitting every nerve, every bone, every muscle.  _ She felt it. _ She felt the power coursing through her violin turn on her, pulling into her like the tide to the sea before exploding with a burst of energy that left her free falling to the stage floor.

 

Everything was fading. Her vision was going hazy, dark around the edges like a photo filter, but she could still see them. Yelling, talking, arguing. They were frantically speaking, Klaus animatedly flailing his arms and he argued with the air. But she couldn’t hear them. She could just hear the bang of the gun, over and over and over again in her head. Allison was above her, looking down towards her as she cradled her in her arms. Her lips were moving but Vanya couldn’t hear her.

 

She couldn’t hear anything. 

 

* * *

When Vanya woke up, it was to silence. 

 

She must be dead. There was no other explanation for the lack of conversation, the passing of cars of the streets, the day to day noises that she’d grown accustomed to. She must be on the pathway to eternal peace or whatever happened when your body decided it was time to go. 

 

Plus, there was light and it was  _ blinding.  _

 

Vanya had a hard time forcing her eyes open, flinching at the jolt of pain that coursed through her head when she finally managed. She didn’t know what she expected the afterlife to be like, but the infirmary of the Academy surely wasn’t it.

 

Her eyes were still adjusting, burning as they zeroed in on Allison who was jamming a pointer finger into Diego’s chest. She may not be able to actually hear what they were saying but the venom dripping off Allison’s words was obvious. Diego looked just as displeased, a scowl covering his face that rivaled their own Father’s. What were they fighting about?

 

Vanya’s muscles complained as she reached for her ears, desperate to pull away whatever was blocking out the noise. Imagine her surprise when she realized there was nothing there. Her fingers came in contact with her ear, gently tracing down the cartilage as she realized there was nothing there. The reason she couldn’t hear wasn’t because of anything obstructing it. It was because she just couldn’t 

 

Vanya jolted as a hand lay to rest on her arm, meeting the very concerned eyes of her sister. She was staring, a question written on her face, waiting for Vanya to answer. But she had no idea what Allison had even asked. 

 

“What?” Vanya croaked out weakly. Her voice felt foreign in her throat, a sensation that didn’t belong. Allison smiled, though it wasn’t convincing enough to hide her concern.

 

“- you okay?”

 

Vanya squinted, watching her lips. She was waiting to wake up any moment and be able to hear again, to be able to know what was being said to her. But, she didn’t. This wasn’t a dream and she wasn’t going to wake up. 

 

Vanya squinted her eyes closed, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks, as she shook her head.

 

She was undoubtedly  _ not  _ okay.

 

* * *

 

The days past in a silent blur. 

 

Vanya stayed in the infirmary, monitored by Mom and whichever one of her siblings decided to sit down there with her. They were all skating around the subject, around her powers. No one brought it up and if they did, Vanya wouldn’t know. She suspected they talked about it a lot, in hushed whispers when she wasn’t in the room. They were planning what to do, how to bring it up. Vanya could tell just by the looks on their faces every time they crossed paths.

 

The metal of the table was cold against her skin, sending goosebumps cascading down her arms as she watched Diego sharpen his knives. He was the only one who didn't talk when they came in. He seemed to have accepted the silence between them, only occasionally moving his lips to say something Vanya wasn’t privy to hear.

 

Usually, she just nodded or smiled. Sometimes he looked at her like that wasn’t the right answer. Vanya was frustrated she didn’t know what the right one was.

 

* * *

 

Everything was cloaked in white and Vanya’s skin was on fire, eyes focused on the glow surrounding her body. She was doing this. She  _ was  _ special. Her eyes settled on her brother’s, dangling limply in front of her, connected only by the tendrils of light extruding from her.

 

She was in control.

 

Then she wasn’t.

 

**_Bang_ ** .

 

Vanya jolted upright with a gasp, pulling the heart rate monitor off her finger, and nearly falling to the floor. Her hand clasped at her chest, grasping at the t-shirt until she held the fabric in her fist like a lifeline, tethering her to the room she was. She was vaguely aware she wasn’t really breathing, her breaths only coming in choked gasps and coughs.

 

It was just a dream. But, she could hear the gun loud and clear. It was the only thing she’d heard for days and it was ringing in her head like a siren.

 

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, shaking her gently. Her eyes widened as she whipped around to face Klaus. Everyone had been looking at her like she was going to break since she’d woken up. Like she was a fragile piece of glass, balanced on the edge of a table, ready to fall and shatter at any moment.

 

He was giving her that look now.

 

She couldn’t blame them. She had barely spoken a word. She couldn’t pay attention to the conversations they were having because she couldn’t hear them… And they didn’t know that. They all assumed she was coming to terms with the past few days, lost in her own head. She’d come to when she was ready. That’s what she assumed, anyway. Vanya had always been quiet, always avoided the conversations. It was just like childhood all over again.

 

A gentle shake of her arm pulled her out of her head. Klaus was staring at her with a frown that looked oddly out of place on his lips,

 

“Vanya?”

 

She recognized her name by the movement of his lips.

 

“I’m fine, Klaus. Bad dream.”

 

He didn't believe her. He opened his mouth to say something else but shut it almost as soon as he did. 

 

And, if her words sounded slurred, she wouldn’t know. She couldn’t hear them anyway.

 

* * *

Five was handing her her violin. The instrument outstretched in his hands, waiting for her to take it away from him.

 

She did.

 

Only to immediately turn around and put it back in the case, locking it shut. IIt had been a few weeks since Vanya left the infirmary downstairs and came back to her own bedroom. And she had mostly kept to herself, hiding away in her room with the door locked, coming to terms with the silence that was now her life. 

 

Her siblings were suspicious. Or perhaps concerned. She was depressed. The power had messed up her brain. Maybe she should be back on the meds. She was reacting to trauma. 

 

She’d be  _ fine.  _

 

The case in her hands felt heavy and she dropped it onto her bed. With her back to Five, she didn’t have to worry about reading his lips. She knew he was talking, but a one way conversation with Vanya was becoming routine. He wouldn’t expect an answer. None of them did anymore. 

 

This was just her way of  _ processing.  _

 

She felt him walking across the floor, hand reaching to open the violin case and pull it back out. 

 

“Play,” He said, her eyes on his lips as he shoved the instrument into her hands. “Anything.”

 

She didn’t want to.

 

Her hands shook around the bow, pulling the violin to her chin, and dragging it across the strings. It hit her in this moment that she couldn’t hear herself. She couldn’t hear the notes falling from the strings. There was no way for her to know if she was messing up. Judging by the flinch coming from Five, she was.

 

He fixed her with a pointed stare, the same look coming over his face that always did when faced with a difficult equation. Vanya squirmed under his gaze until he looked away. Adamantly, Five stalked over to her desk, ripping a page of sheet music from her notebook and scribbling on top of it.

 

_ “You can’t hear.” _

 

“No,” Vanya said shakily. “I can’t. Don’t - Please don’t tell the others.”

 

* * *

 

Five had been her lifeline since he found out. He talked slower, more deliberately than the rest of the household, making sure to catch her eye and occasionally mouth parts of the conversations she missed. 

 

Some nights, he wrote. 

 

He’d write what had happened during the day, things that were said, arguments between Diego and Luther. He made sure to include the little things. How Allison chided Klaus for stealing her clothes again, how he’d gotten Delores a new shirt - Pink sequins lining the collar. Five also persisted in his attempts to get her to play the violin.

 

He wasn’t stupid. Her longing looks shot at the dust-covered case made him sad and he, begrudgingly, admitted that to her one night.

 

“You miss it,” He said, following her gaze to the case in the corner of her room.

 

Vanya nodded, biting back the desire to cry. 

 

“You should try to play again.”

 

“I’m not ready.”

 

Five nodded, dropping it completely. He nudged Vanya to lay on the bed and shot her a look that looked far too old for his teenage body.

 

“Go to sleep, Vanya. You’re tired.”

 

She did.

 

* * *

  
  


For the first time since Vanya had woken up, she  _ really _ cried. Her violin was clutched to her chest, tears cascading down her face and onto the wood, sliding down the strings. Her one solace, the one thing she’d always found peace in,

 

_ Her violin. _

 

And, she couldn’t play it anymore. She couldn’t hear herself. She didn’t know what notes she was playing or if they were right. She’d never be able to teach again. All of her students were going to be without a teacher. How could she teach them if she couldn’t even hear the music pouring from the strings? 

 

She was starting to forget what her family’s voices sounded like, how they laughed, how they argued. Her favorite songs were becoming a jumbled mess in her head, mixing together into nothing more than static noise. The daily sounds she’d taken for granted were gone now. No longer could she hear the birds outside her windows, the car horns blaring on the streets outside. She couldn’t remember what Mom sounded like as she called them to dinner.

 

It was all fading.

 

Vanya Hargreeves grieved that night. She grieved over the loss of her hearing, the loss of her one comfort,  the loss of life as she knew it. She cried until she was sure her body had run out of tears, collapsing on her duvet with a choked sob.

 

* * *

Luther was standing over her bed when she opened her eyes. She jumped back, flinging herself back against the headboard, in shock. His face seemed more displeased than usual, a frown on his lips and eyebrows knitted together on his forehead.

 

“What’re you doing?” Vanya mumbled, the strain of using her voice causing her to wince. 

 

Something sparked in Luther’s eyes and his face fell immediately as he looked at her. She hadn’t seen a look like that ever on Luther’s face and it made an unsettling feeling bubble in the pit of her stomach. Almost as uncomfortable as Luther looked like he felt. 

 

“- knocking on - make sure - okay. Downstairs - family-.”

 

He was talking too fast. Vanya’s eyes couldn’t keep up with his lips, frantically trying to decipher what he was saying. She couldn’t. 

 

Her brother had already turned to walk out, leaving the door opened as he left. Vanya pulled her knees to her chest, burying her face into them. She was acutely aware of someone entering the room, the bed dipping beside her, and a hand on her arm.

 

She knew it was Five. 

 

“ _Family meeting downstairs._ ” He wrote on a scrap piece of paper. “ _You don’t have to come._ ”

 

“No, I’ll come.” Vanya murmured.

 

* * *

  
  


They were already talking when Vanya walked into the room. Even without being able to hear, she saw the conversations stop. Their lips stopped moving, bodies going tense as she stepped inside. Suddenly, she felt like she shouldn’t be there.

 

Five nodded, a subtle tilt of his head to the seat next to him, and she shuffled across the room to take it. Her eyes fell to the open notebook in his lap, pen poised over the paper as if he were about to take notes. 

 

_ ‘They want to train your powers.’  _ He wrote, pen moving fluidly across the page. ‘ _ Luther’s asking if you’re ready.’ _

 

Vanya looked up, finding all eyes on her already. Subtly she caved in on herself, pulling her arms around her torso defensively.

 

“I don’t know.” She said, flinching at the look on Allison’s face as she spoke.

 

‘ _ He’s being adamant you train now.’  _ Five wrote as he noted the confusion on her face. Klaus had suddenly stood up, waving his arms in Luther’s direction with a ferocity that reminded her of a feral cat.

 

‘ _ Klaus doesn’t want him to push you.’ _

  
  


“I -” Vanya started, all eyes snapping to where she sat by Five. The finger Klaus had pointed at Luther lowered, his lips parted as he paused whatever words of argument rested on them. Vanya’s words did much the same. They died in her throat and she abruptly stood, bolting out of the room. 

 

She’d like to imagine they called for her to come back, their tones laced with concern. But, she really didn’t know.

 

No one followed her.

 

* * *

 

It was nearing eleven pm when Vanya noticed the paper that had been slipped under the door. Her shadow flickered over the piece of notebook paper as she passed it, catching her attention enough to pick it up.

 

‘ _ You should tell them.’  _ it said and the words made Vanya’s blood run cold. 

 

Vanya had spent her whole life being the odd one out. First, she didn’t have powers. Then she did and almost caused the apocalypse. Now, she couldn’t hear. Deep down, she knew they wouldn’t treat her differently because of this. They wouldn’t shun her any more than they did during her childhood. They’d only keep give her those pitying glances she hated, but they were already doing that.

 

The paper crumpled between her fingers, landing on the floor next to the trashcan.

 

* * *

 

Adjusting was a process. 

 

Vanya wasn’t an expert lip reader by any means. But she’d picked up enough to be somewhat involved in conversations. She hid away less, stuck by Five more. She endured his constant pestering to tell them, to learn ASL, to stop being in  _ denial  _ and accept that it might not be something she can hide forever.

 

She ignored him, mostly. But his words stuck. Vanya had never considered herself to be in denial. Sure, she still didn’t talk and her siblings still didn’t know why. She hadn’t picked up her violin in months, missing rehearsals that her siblings knew about. Vanya knew they were all still suspect, wondering if the sudden burst of power had really messed with her head or if it was something else entirely.

 

For now, Vanya was going to let them theorize. She wasn’t in denial.

 

She wasn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw; ptsd/panic attack near the end of chapter
> 
> thank you for all the wonderful comments & kudos <3

Five had always known he was smarter than his siblings. It wasn’t cockiness if it was true and besides, it should be obvious. None of them held half his level of intellect before he disappeared and they only seemed to have gotten less intelligent after his return.

 

“She’s a time bomb, Diego! How long do we have until she snaps again? We need to do something about it!”

 

“ _ It  _ is our sister.” Diego growled, hands coming to slam against the tabletop. The plates just prepared by Grace  jumped, stray pieces of pasta tumbling over the sides. “She’s not something you can just lock away and subdue!”

 

“I didn’t say-”

 

“You didn’t have to say it, Luther.”

 

They’d been arguing over Vanya for what felt like hours. Really, it had barely been twenty minutes. The back and forth about Vanya and what should be done about the situation was growing old, a routine conversation forced upon everyone daily by dear Number One. Five would agree that it was a conversation that needed to be had and Vanya’s use of her powers did need to be dealt with, but they were missing something so blatantly obvious that it was painful to even listen to them. You can’t make a decision without all the facts and they were al missing a  _ huge  _ one.

 

It had been clear from the first time Five went to her in the infirmary. Grace was talking, her voice soothing - just as Reginald had programmed it to be - asking her how she was feeling, if she needed anything. Vanya hadn’t even looked in her direction. Her gaze seemed permanently fixated on her fingers. It wasn’t until Grace had moved to reapply her bandages that Vanya even seemed to notice she was there.

 

Five remembered the look in her eyes, the shock, the embarrassment, the confusion. It swirled around in her irises clear as day. And when Mom asked how she was feeling again, Vanya had only nodded - stiffly. 

 

He started paying closer attention after that. He watched her eyes linger, falling to everyone’s lips as they spoke. She was always commenting a few beats too late, talking over someone, repeating what someone else had  _ just  _ said. Her words had even begun to mesh together, slurring as if she had downed a whole bottle of wine before leaving her bedroom.

 

“Do you think she has a concussion?” Allison asked one night over dinner. 

 

Vanya was absent from the table, her plate left untouched. They all knew she was upstairs with her bedroom door locked and room silent. It was where she always was now. 

 

Luther shrugged, “I’d be surprised if she didn’t. But Mom didn’t say anything, so…”

 

Five wanted to scream. He wanted to berate them for not noticing. How could they be so daft? They’d promised to pay more attention her after all this and instead they were still as oblivious to Vanya as they were before. 

 

“I’m bringing her dinner.”

 

Five abruptly stood, chair scraping against the floor. He grabbed Vanya’s plate and left the room without another word.

 

* * *

 

Silence was something Five had grown accustomed too. Spending your whole life alone in an apocalyptic wasteland would do that you. Which was why he didn’t understand what was happening now. He didn’t understand the pain he felt at seeing Vanya’s violin, untouched, in the corner of her room. He didn’t quite get why the lack of Mozart echoing down the hallway was making his chest hurt. He didn’t understand why no one else seemed to care.

 

As children, the violin was all Vanya had. The Academy was out  _ saving the world  _ and she was at home practicing scales. They’d all gone from hearing the scratchy notes of ‘Hot Crossed Buns’ to the beautiful sonatas of Brahms over the years, the sound of her playing becoming one of the few constants they had in the house - aside from their Father’s hell-ish attitude. 

 

Though Five had left before Vanya mastered the likes of Mozart, he’d loved to listen to her play. Even after he left, Vanya’s music stuck with him. He liked to imagine her on stage, playing Bach to an audience wearing evening gowns and tuxes. He liked to think back to the screeches of her violins, causing everyone in the house to simultaneously flinch, when she was just beginning. 

 

He’d even searched for her violin amongst the rubble of The Academy, desperate to find something of her to cling on to.

 

He never found it.

 

The theatre was the first time he’d really heard her play. Vanya, cloaked in white, demanding all the attention she’d been deprived over the years - the attention she deserved.  He wished it was under different circumstances. Instead of the brewing apocalypse, he’d be there in the crowd - a  _ decent  _ suit covering his body and Delores on his arm. The rest of the family would be there, in  _ support.  _ Something he learned Vanya never received after his disappearance. 

 

In some way, Five had expected her to be playing when he’d first gotten back. He’d expected that when he arrived back  _ home,  _ Vanya’s music would still make its' way down the hallways.

 

It hadn’t. Five regretted not taking the time to listen to her before all of this happened. He was hyper-focused, running on caffeine and anxiety, and all he wanted to do was save the world. Maybe, if he’d stopped and listened to Vanya, he could have saved it sooner.

 

He could have saved her from having to deal with all this.

 

* * *

 

 

Vanya had looked at him like he was insane the night he barged into her room, snatching the violin off the floor and shoving it towards her.

 

“Play.” He’d practically pleaded, his voice carrying too much emotion for his taste. “Anything.”

 

He’d seen the reluctance, the way her face fell as she pulled it to her chin, the tears brimming in her eyes as he flinched.

 

That was the night everything was confirmed. She was deaf and Five wasn’t sure what to do.

 

* * *

 

“If you think any harder, I’m pretty sure your brain will explode and it’s  _ way  _ too early to clean that up.”

 

Five felt his thoughts coming to an abrupt end thanks to Klaus barging in the kitchen. It was too late in the morning for him to be anywhere that wasn’t his own room and honestly, Five was foolish for doing his ‘brooding’ in the kitchen of all places where he knew he’d be interrupted. 

 

“Go away, Klaus.”

 

It came as no surprised when Klaus didn’t listen. Instead, he took the seat next to him and slung an arm over his shoulder. The silk fabric from his  _ ridiculous  _ shirt grazed Five’s neck and he squirmed away, shooting him a look that he wished could kill. Klaus, being Klaus, was unphased. 

 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

 

“My thoughts are worth more than that.”

 

“You’re right. How about,  _ hmmmm _ , a nickel?”

 

“ _ Klaus.”  _ Five warned. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his eccentricities this morning.

 

Klaus sighed, shoving a handful of cereal into his mouth that Five vaguely remember choking down during one of his later days in the apocalypse. Five involuntarily grimaced, turning his eyes back down to his untouched coffee.

  
  


“What’s wrong?” He mumbled, between mouthfuls of cereal. “You can talk to your big bro.”

 

Usually, Five would argue that he was older than all of them. Therefore, he was in charge so Klaus should go away and leave him to dwell on his thoughts in peace. But, his mind was stuck on Vanya. He was growing worried for more reasons than one and keeping up the act of pretending not to notice was growing old. He’d written her a note, telling her that she should tell them. They’d understand. It was crumpled up by her trashcan the next day. He didn’t even bother trying to hide his defeat, stomping off to his bedroom and collapsing on his bed with a groan. Delores was so frustrated by his incessant rambling that night that she’d gone to bed early.

 

“Nothing’s wrong, Klaus. Go bother Diego.”

 

“Can’t.” He shrugged, leaning back so his legs were draping over the armrest of the chair. He looked like a child, with his improperly sized clothes covered with patterns Five would dare say were  _ tacky.  _ Even after all his strife, Klaus’ eyes still managed to hold a childlike interest in a lot of things. It was ironic, considering Five’s own physical form at the moment. “He’s off doing Diego stuff. So, you may as well talk to me, because everyone else is busy and I’m not going to leave you alone.”

 

“That’s unfortuna-”

 

Five never finished his retort, Vanya was suddenly in the doorframe, looking worse for the wear. The dark circles under her eyes rivaled Klaus’ eyeliner, she was wearing the same sweater she had been wearing the day before and a pair of mismatched socks were pulled over her feet. Five braced himself for Klaus to say something to her, to make her feel uncomfortable because she was confused, and cause her to run away.

 

He didn’t.

 

In an uncharacteristic move for Klaus, he didn’t say a  _ word _ . Lazily smiling as he tipped his ‘ ** _HELLO_** ’ hand in her direction, he turned back to the box of cereal and began digging through it once more. Vanya seemed content with this, her shoulders relaxing, letting go of all the tension Five had seen build the moment she walked in the room.  She opened the cabinet, grabbing a box of granola bars, and scurried out of the room. It all happened in a blink. She was there and then she was gone. He  _ almost  _ understood why his siblings found his act of doing the same so frustrating. Almost.

 

The moment she was out of the room, Klaus turned his attention back to Five. His gaze lingered a bit too long on Five’s face and he found himself turning away, uncomfortable under Klaus’ eye.

 

“Ohhh. It’s about Vanya” He said, snapping his fingers like he’d just solved a puzzle. It was  _ obviously  _ about Vanya. “Is it because - Shut it, Ben. She probably doesn’t-”

 

Five’s eyebrow quirked, watching Klaus glare at the air. 

 

“- Yeah, yeah. Okay,  _ fine, _ you’re right. Happy now?”

 

Childishly, Klaus flicked off the air with a huff, and turned back to Five.

 

“Um, is it about Vanya?”

 

“Perhaps.”

 

Klaus hummed, nodding. He didn’t say anything long enough that Five genuinely was growing concerned until he suddenly blurted out, in a whisper,

 

“Is it because, ya know…”

 

Klaus motioned towards his own ears, frantically trying to get his point across. Five knew what he meant immediately.

 

“No, Ben, you said I shouldn’t  _**say** _ _**it.**_ I didn’t say it!”

 

“How - How’d you know?” Five interrupted in disbelief. Out of all of them, Five was sure Allison would be the next to figure it out. Diego, even. But, never had he considered Klaus. That seemed to be a habit everyone in the house needed to break.

 

Klaus’ face fell slightly, a few cracks in his usual armor of humor and nonchalance shining through. 

 

“Like I was saying, before I was  _ rudely  _ interrupted, war is loud. I had a lot of buddies that lost their hearing. I guess I just started to notice.”

 

* * *

 

Vanya’s eyes were closed, arms folded across her chest, as she lay on top of her bed. It reminded Klaus of how corpses lay in caskets and he repressed a shudder at the thought. 

 

As carefully as he could, he took a seat on the end of her bed and tapped her knee with his index finger. She still jumped in surprise and if the situation had been different, Klaus may have found the sudden startle adorable. 

 

“Vanya.” He smiled, a lazy grin spreading across his face. “Fancy seeing you here.”

 

“This is my room.” She shook her head, unable to hide her amusement. 

 

Klaus could see the strain using her voice was putting on her. He couldn’t relate, but he’d seen far too many people go through the same things. Not being able to hear your own words as you said them was a thought that scared even him. 

 

Vanya had always been the soft-spoken one of the seven, forced to be that way by dear old Dad. As a kid, Klaus had never really thought about it, about  _ her.  _ As an adult, things were different. They had all agreed to make things better now, to at least try to resemble some sort of family. Yet, none of them had even bothered to notice she was struggling.

 

They’d all been so quick to brush it off as Vanya ‘processing’ her new powers, accepting the fact she nearly ended the human race. But, even so, no one was trying to be there for her aside from Five. They’d all been so focused on harnessing her power, controlling it, just like  _ DAD. _

 

The thought disgusted him. Maybe their old man influenced them more than they thought. When he looked at Vanya, now sat up on her bed, she looked like a little kid again. Her expression held a tinge of fear and a whole lot of anxiety. Klaus wanted to make sure she knew that it was going to be okay.

 

She was staring at him now, skepticism was written all over her face. He guessed he deserved that. Like he already knew, they had rarely been checking up on her. Giving her space was apparently what this family did best. 

 

He raised a hand and tapped his ear in a nonverbal question. Vanya was smart. She knew what he was asking. Her head shook and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing at the skin. Neither said anything until Klaus lifted his left hand.

  
  


“V A N Y A.”  He spelled out with his fingers.

 

Her face lit up and he knew in that moment, he was going to try and get better with his fingers for Vanya - and maybe for a little more fluency in the bedroom. as well.

 

(Ben lectured him for hours after he said that to him. 

 

_ “That’s not funny, Klaus! Can you take anything seriously?” _

_"I am serious! Do you know how flexible your fingers have to be for some of those words? Imagine the -"_

_"You're unbelievable."_

 

Typical.)

 

* * *

 

 

When they were children, young and just at the beginning of the emotional hell called life, Diego went through a phase. His stutter was too much for him, the ridicule from his Father left him feeling weak and adding that on top of being  _ Number Two,  _ well, he’d just shut down. 

 

He’d stopped talking altogether and Klaus had been devastated. Grace had immediately swooped in, teaching him a little bit of sign language. Diego - being Klaus’ favorite, aside from Ben of course - was all the reason Klaus needed to join their little lessons and slowly, he built up a very minuscule knowledge of the signs.

 

Vietnam was surprisingly where he had his refresher course on the language. Apparently, being a soldier came with hearing loss. Guns were loud, bombs were louder, being shouted at all wasn’t helpful either. Dave, being the angel he was, taught ASL to himself - and the others. Klaus wasn’t oblivious to how much it meant to the other soldiers stationed there to have a way to communicate. 

 

He was going to do the same for Vanya.

 

* * *

 

“Mind your own business.” Five spat, his words laced with venom. It was enough to make Luther take a step back, his face cycling through so many emotions that Five couldn’t even keep up. He ended up settling on defiance as the two locked eyes, staring heatedly at each other across the room.

 

He wondered how they’d even gotten here.

 

It started with the door to Five’s room swinging open, slamming against the wall with a resounding bang that  _ nearly  _ made him fall out of his bed. Luther, of all people, had been looming in the door frame and for once, Five couldn’t tell what the expression on his face was even close to resembling.

 

“Have you ever heard of knocking?”

 

“What’s this about?” Luther barged in, ignoring Five’s comment completely. He shoved a notebook in his face and waited.

 

More specifically, it was Five’s notebook for Vanya. It was recognizable immediately. He snatched it out of Luther’s giant hands, his eyes narrowing into slits. This was personal. He had no  _ right  _ to invade their privacy like that.

 

“I already know anyway. I read through the whole thing.” Luther grunted. “I was just hoping you were going to stop trying to hide things from us now.”

 

Five felt his face scrunching in annoyed disgust before he could stop it. Was Luther trying to guilt trip him right now? Fat chance that would work. He looked at his brother with a pointed glare, arms folding across his chest.

  
  


“It wasn’t my information to tell.”

  
  


“It doesn’t matter, Five. It is important -”

  
  


“Vanya’s privacy doesn’t matter?” 

 

Five rose from the bed, stalking over to Luther like a teacher about to reprimand a schoolchild. It brought him a marginal amount of pleasure to see Number One shrink in on himself.

 

“Is that what you’re saying. Luther? Is it just Vanya’s privacy that doesn’t matter? Because that doesn’t seem very fair, does it? I would suppose your and Allison’s late night rendezvous are fair game now, as well. It could be important-” Five sneered. “ - considering that two of you are... involved.”

 

“Okay.” Luther interrupted, shaking his head. Unlike before, he refused to meet Five’s gaze as he backed out of the room, footsteps heavy in the hallway. He glanced back at Five over his shoulder.

 

“It needs to be discussed, Five. You can’t deny that.”

 

Five hummed, nodding in genuine agreement. That seemed to surprise Luther the most.

 

“It does need to be discussed. But if I find out you spoke a word of this to anyone  _ before  _ Vanya decides she’s ready to tell us, I won’t hesitate to make you regret it. Understood?”

 

Luther neither agreed nor disagreed before he disappeared down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

Alongside the mission alarms placed in every room, there were fire alarms. Reginald hadn’t even bothered installing them until the children were nearing six years old. For whatever reason, he hadn’t deemed them important. Five always thought that was foolish. Shouldn’t he have wanted to protect his most  _ expensive  _ possessions? 

 

Years later and they still remained, their batteries changed by Luther and Pogo regularly over the years - despite none of the seven living at home anymore. Five never thought about them. Honestly, if they hadn’t started blaring in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t have even realized they still had them at all.

 

Stumbling out of his room, Five expected to see flames licking up the walls, burning the academy to ash. He’d been expecting something a lot of climactic than his siblings to be standing in the hallway looking a mix of sleep deprived and alarmed - no pun intended. There was a hint of smoke in the air, rising to the second floor where they all stood and for a brief moment, everyone was in a panic. 

 

After years of being pulled out of bed by a blaring alarm, Five would have thought they’d be better at this than they all were. 

  
  


“What is going on?” Allison shouted overtop the alarm, her curls pulled into a wild bun on top of her head. She was already making the smart decision and heading for the stairs.  

 

Luther was quick on her heels, flinching at every high pitched wail that came from the around them. Even Diego seemed wary and bolted off with a shout about finding Mom. Klaus was on the floor, hands firmly planted over his ears, and eyes squinted shut with so much force that Five was concerned. PTSD was a bitch. He knew that well. He jumped to Klaus’ side in a flash of blue, grabbing his arm, and taking him out of the house.

 

“Hey.” He steadied Klaus in the grass, gently pulling his hands away from his ears. “You’re good.” 

 

“I - Loud.” was all Klaus managed to gasp out, frantically yanking on the dog tags around his neck. Five vaguely heard the others exiting the house, murmured conversations about calling someone and figuring out what was going on.

 

Five would let them deal with that. He’d seen Klaus have too many meltdowns since getting sober. He wasn’t about to let a panic attack send him into relapse again. So, he did what he’d done with Klaus since the first time it happened.

 

He walked him through it. He asked Klaus to tell him what colors he could see, what he could hear, what smells were wafting in the air. He wanted to ground him, to pull him back to where they really were - in their front yard in the middle of the night because of some dumb alarm going off inside the house.

 

“Klaus.” Five said calmly. “You’re here with us. We’re all outside the Academy. It’s okay.”

 

There was nothing in Klaus’ gaze that would convince Five he was okay in any way. His eyes were frantically darting back and forth, fingers trembling as he dug his nails into his skin.

 

“Look,” Five said, calmly. “You’re with us. Luther and Diego are fighting like they always are. Idiots.”

 

He turned to look at the two, watching as Klaus looked as well. 

 

“And Allison is with Mom and Pogo calling someone to help.”

 

“We’re superheroes. We shouldn’t need help.” Klaus croaked out, his laugh hollow and pained. 

 

“I think we need the help because we  _ are  _ superheroes.”

 

Five let himself relax as Klaus laughed at this, a hint of light coming back to his eyes.

 

“See? You’re fine. We're all here -”

 

Wait.

 

Five froze, his eyes darting around the courtyard. He didn’t notice that Klaus was doing the same thing.

  
  


“Where’s Vanya?”


End file.
